Seven going on Seventeen or Sixtyseven?

I'm slowly but surely weeding my way through the playroom and and getting rid of the toys that are never played with, broken or that the kids have out grown.

The boys will each have some toys in their bedrooms, but my plan is to have a major clear out and make it more age appropriate. We have a TV and VCR up there, but they aren't hooked up to the satellite system. This makes it the perfect place for a kids-style "game room."

The plan is to eventually move the PlayStation2 up there and just make it a nice place to hang out.

I was talking to Josh about it the other day and he had his input...

"Just make sure there is an icebox up there full of milk and chips so we can stuff our faces whilewe're playing PlayStation. Okay Mom?"

I'm thinking... "Icebox? No one says icebox anymore?" and "Oh no! What will he want stocked up there when he's in high school?"

Wordless Wednesday: Blueberry Picking

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Friday Photo Challenge on Tuesday

I have some friends I met through Maya's Mom that have started their own blogs. As part of it, they pick someone each week to come up with a photo challenge. This time, it was Jae's turn.

She wanted everyone to take a picture of something that was not our family and write a haiku about it.

Since I'm slow, it took me until Tuesday to do the Friday challenge, but hey, better late than never!



Sticky, Hot, sweaty
The pool looks so refreshing
Oh the cool water!

Only I have to say, the water in our pool is anything but cool... but at least it's wet!

** If you'd like to play along on your blog, just leave a comment below with a link...***

The Great Vegetarian Experiment

Last week, we agreed that, if Josh wanted, he could try being a vegetarian on Friday. This is came about because he didn't want to eat his dinner said he didn't want to "kill animals."

So he woke up on Friday and was very excited about his "meat free" day.

But somehow, I'm not quite sure he gets the idea....

Me: "Josh, what do you want for breakfast? Cereal? Toast? Eggs?"

Josh: "How about bacon? Is that vegetarian?"

Um... no.

He settled for Fruit Loops and Fresh fruit salad.

About 10:00 he comes to me...

"Mom, can I have a turkey and pickle sandwich?"

Me: "Josh, that's not vegetarian, remember?"

Josh: "OOOHHHH! I only wanted to be vegetarian at breakfast, lunch and dinner... Not at snack time!"

In the end he settled for some pickles and some cheese.

He did have tuna at lunch time, and while I know that's not strictly vegetarian, there are a lot of vegetarians that eat fish so we let that slide. Sam did much better with a grilled cheese sandwich.

And then at dinner the boys had bean and cheese burritos. Josh told me he liked them better with meat.

So, I don't quite think he's ready to give up eating meat, but he did give it a good go.

At the end of the day we were talking about his vegetarian day. I asked him how he liked it.

Josh: "Mom, Vegetarians sure do get to eat good food!"

Me: "Yes, well, you don't have to be a vegetarian to eat vegetarian foods. If you want, we can do it once a week."

Josh: "Yeah, I think I could do it once a week..... Can I do it on the nights you have turkey for dinner?"

Um, no. But he gets points for trying.

A 7 Year Old's Dilemma

One of the things that is very important to Rich and me is teaching our kids about proper nutrition and eating well. We want to teach our children how to make good, healthy choices in food.

We do bring the kids to McD's or let them have special "treats" from time to time. But it's the exception rather than the rule. Moderation is the key.

Lately, everything Sam eats he asks if it is "healthy." It hasn't seemed to deter him from wanting chicken nuggets or the processed macaroni and cheese... but at least he's asking the questions.

So last night at dinner Josh was very curious about different foods and trying to avoid eating his fish asking all sorts of questions. His teacher last year was a vegetarian so he was curious about what that meant and why some people are vegetarians and some aren't.

Rich explained that some people don't eat meat for a variety of reasons, among them religion, diet and that some people object to killing and eating animals.

Josh then said he didn't like to kill animals and that he liked fruits and vegetables so maybe he could be a vegetarian. We told him if he wanted to try and be a veggie, that would be fine with us.

So we agreed that on Friday we'd have a "meat free" day to test it out and see how he likes it.

We started to explain that there were many types of vegetarians -- some that don't eat any animal by-product like milk and cheese (he didn't want to explore that) and some that will eat fish and eggs.

We explained that there are some people that aren't totally vegetarian, but make decisions not to eat some kinds of meat due to how animals are treated (like veal or only eating free-range chickens, etc...)

We told him he had to make a decision about what was important to him and then decide what he was willing to give up for his beliefs.

Josh then said, "Well, one thing I know I don't like is chicken!" Then he pointed at his food.

I said, "Well, that's fish Josh. And you don't like chicken nuggets?"

The look on his face was priceless.

I continued, "... and no more hamburgers or hot dogs. You wouldn't be able to eat at McDonald's anymore."

He said, "Oh. Maybe not then."

Thus ended his attempt to talk his way out of eating his dinner.

Wordless Wednesday: Downtown Disney

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What a difference a week makes

Last weekend we sat at home and did nothing.

This weekend, we went to Orlando...

On Thursday morning we got up at 5:00 and drove down to Orlando, FL to visit with some of Rich's college friends. He was a roommate and their daughter is Rich's God-daughter. They were visiting from Liverpool, England and invited us down to share the holiday villa they are renting for a few weeks.

So on Thursday we drove down and joined them! Their kids are older than ours and they have different interests so on Friday they went off and did some parks and such, we went to Downtown Disney for window shopping. The Candy Cauldron was one of the kids favorites!



We had lunch at Planet Hollywood (which I would NOT recommend -- the food was cold and I hit every ladies room on the way home), and played at the Lego Store -- very fun!



On Saturday all eight of us piled in our cars and drove to Clearwater beach. By far the most fun and most "holidayish" time we had. The water was wonderful (but a bit crowded) and it was just lovely and beautiful. Almost makes me want to move to Tampa just so I can go to the beaches more often!



On Sunday we hung around the villa most of the day and played in the pool. But, while the rest of the Blogging Women of the world were in San Francisco at BlogHer, I got to meet some of my bloggy-friends!



Sheila from My Memories and her sister Cheryl. I met both through Maya's Mom last year. When I found out they were going to be in Orlando the same time I jumped at the opportunity to meet them! They are so warm and welcoming and lovely! I had a great time with them -- the 2 hours we were together flew by! I felt like I'd known them my whole life, they are such easy company!

Thank you Sheila and Cher for such a great time!

We got up at 5:00 this morning and headed home to Georgia. It's good to be home. I'm tired and ready for bed. But we had a great time. And the kids were great in the car, both going down and coming home. What more could I ask for?

Lazy Weekends....

We had another one of those weekends where we didn't do much of anything.

Saturday was nice so Rich got out and did some yard work. The boys and I did nothing. In fact, I stayed in my PJ's almost all day. I changed out to go to the grocery store but that is all I did.

It rained all day Sunday. I know we need rain. I know we need it badly, but seriously... does it have to come all at once?

It was one of those weekends when the boys wore their clothes to bed on Friday night and they were still in the same clothes Sunday when I put them to bed. Shameful, I know, but they were happy.

All day Sunday they played well together. They were playing with the stuffed animals (of all things) All.Day.Long! At one point they put on the PS2, but got bored.

On Saturday, Josh found a game on MiniClips and played it most of the day. On Sunday while the "stuffed animals were sleeping" he and Rich were glued to the game. It's right up their alley... It's called "Magic Pen" and the object is to draw a series of shapes to move a round ball through and around obstacles to reach a red flag. It was fantastic to listen to Josh explain his "contraptions" and theories about how he was going to move the red ball. At one point, he got stuck and Rich came to "help" -- Rich spent most of the afternoon playing the game!

We did have one HUGE milestone this week.

It is something that's been a long time in the making. Let me warn you, it wasn't pretty. There were tears -- Sam is still upset. It will take some getting used to, but we're all the better for it -- at least that's what I keep telling Sam.

This, for Sam, was bigger and more difficult than Potty Training.

We got rid of the sippy cups.



Insert Mommy's happy dance here!

What's so funny Mom?

Why are you laughing?



What do you mean my mouth and t-shirt match?

Move over Joey Tribiani, Sam's in town

Once upon a Wednesday, two young boys went on a tour of a pizzeria.



There, they saw how pizza was made...





And after enjoying a slice of their own, there was much merriment with the other children on the tour. Sam even took the opportunity to pick up a girl (or two...)


Sam to Kyra: "Hey Babe, How you doin'?"


Gavin: "Listen Dude, stay away from my sister!"


Kyra: "Go away baby brother! I can take care of myself!"
Sam: "Score!!!"

Apparently, Kyra had to go powder her nose and get rid of the fruit punch mustache. While she was away, Emma moved in...


Sam: "Hey. How'd you like to come back to my place for milk and cookies?"
-- notice Kyra's head coming back in to check them out... "Oh no you didn't just move in on my man...."

The girls leave... probably a group bathroom visit...

Josh comes up to his little brother...


Josh: "Hey Sam, can you teach me how to do that?"

++++

And later in the car Josh says to me...

"Mom, did you see how Sam was standing at the pizza place? That's how you stand and talk to someone when you're in love."

This post part of Mrs. Fussypants "Insert Witty Title Here Thursdays" about what you're grateful for.



Me, I'm grateful they are not teenagers yet!

Wordless Wednesday: Fort

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My Mom is a Bag Lady

Warning: Shameless bragging of family talent going on...

My mom has a new hobby....

Making purses.

She makes the fabric with her felter and then sews them up.

This one is my favorite...

She is a board member of the local Romeo art gallery, The Starkweather Arts and Cultural Center, and has them on sale there. They're not cheap, but they are beautiful! She had more at the house and I forgot to get pictures of them. And she's got a few in the works. For other views of these purses go to my Flickr page.

She's not the only talented one in the family. My sister is a wonderful potter and has some work on sale at the gallery too... In fact, she's scheduled for a show next May.

Since she lives in the Chicago area, I don't get to raid her stash much so I bought a few pieces while I was there. Only I left them at my parents. But what really smarts... I had to pay retail for my own sister's artwork! ::Sigh::

Here's some of the things she has on sale at the gallery....

And my brother and sister-in-law are very talented artists but they haven't given me any of their work to shamelessly post on my blog.

Our July 4th Weekend

Well, we had a perfect weekend. We did almost nothing and it was fantastic!

On Friday, we did go to our neighborhood fireworks display.

We live in community that has lots of subdivision surrounding some common ammenities like pools, tennis courts, playgrounds and a large open space called the "Town Green." The Town Green is where most of the community events are scheduled and the annual July 4th celebration is the best of the bunch. About 6:00 we packed up the wagon and headed down to partake in the festivities! There are all sorts of activities and concessions, music and lots of people.

This was the second year in a row the weather was perfect -- not hot, not humid and no rain! The weather forecast was for rain in the evening and we managed to escape the rain. Even though it's not fun being in the middle of a drought, at least it makes the 4th of July more tolerable!

We got there with enough time to look around, grab some pizza and snacks and talk to friends before it was time to light up the glow sticks.

I was having fun playing with the settings on my camera

And soon enough, it was time for the fireworks to start...

We didn't get home until almost 11:00, but we did have a great time!

More photos, click HERE

Eavesdropping

Sam and my niece Gabby were thick as thieves last week. They had lots of fun playing (and getting into a bit of trouble) together.

This was a common sight:


And here is a snippet of some of the conversations they had while playing with those Barbies they are holding....

Action....

The players:

Sam -- age 3.
Gabby -- age 5. Who said to me, "Sam and I are the same size, but I'm bigger."

Setting:

The back seat of the car.

Scene:

The kids are pretend playing with the Barbies. Gabby takes the lead.

+++

Sam: Can you come out and play?

Gabby: No. I can't play today. I have some things to do. I have to go shopping and then go to the mall. Then I have to go to the doctor because I broke my leg. While I'm at the doctor, I think I'll have a baby, so I'll be too busy to play today.

Sam: Okay, maybe tomorrow.

+++

Sam: My mom and my sister died.

Gabby: Oh, well, I'm about to die too.

Sam: Oh no!

Gabby: Surprise! I'm back alive again! We can play!

++++

And the best of all...

Gabby: OOPS! I accidentally ate your sister! Sorry!

Sam: That's okay.

+++

Seriously, I don't know where they come up with this stuff!

edited to add: I'm linking this back to Fussypants's Grateful Thursday's posts. I'm thankful for kids that keep me laughing!

Wordless Wednesday: A Week in Pictures

The Country Fair


Grinding Wheat


Panning for Gold


Pie Eating Contest


Coming Back from the Fairy Circle - Playing with cousins


Swimming -- a lot!


Diva


Nature Scavenger Hunt


Tie-dying T-shirts


The finished shirts (impossible to get 5 kids all looking the same way!)


Webkinz, T-shirts and McD's.


Letting our fish go in Pappa Don's fish pond -- we'll miss you Goldie and Goldie 3!


Flying home

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